Lesson video

Hi there, I'm Mr. Buckingham and it's so good to see you here for today's lesson.

Now that we've written the build-up to the story of "Beowulf and the Dragon", we are going to turn to thinking about the climax and the resolution.

These are the most exciting and dramatic parts of the story, so they'll give us a chance to do some fantastic writing.

And today we'll begin preparing to write by generating some rich vocabulary that we can use in our writing.

Let's get going.

Today's lesson is called Generating Vocabulary for The Climax of Beowulf and the Dragon.

And it comes from a unit called "Beowulf" narrative writing.

By the end of today's lesson, you will have developed ideas for rich vocabulary to describe elements of the battle and the emotions being experienced in the climax and resolution of "Beowulf and the Dragon".

And for this lesson, you will need to have with you the text map that we produced earlier in the unit.

If you're ready, let's begin.

Here are our keywords for today's lesson.

A text map is official representation of a series of events where pitches represent events.

The climax is the point in the narrative where the suspense and excitement reach their highest point.

The resolution is the point in the narrative where problems are resolved.

Rich vocabulary refers to words chosen intentionally to convey a certain impression to the reader of a place, person or thing.

And show-not-tell is a writing technique for showing a character's feelings with description of their actions, body language and facial expressions.

Here's our lesson outline for today.

We're going to start off by rehearsing using our text map.

Then we'll look at some rich vocabulary we can use to describe a battle and then some rich vocabulary we can use to show emotions.

So as you know, we've prepared a text map earlier in this unit covering the build-up, climax, and resolution of the mini story of "Beowulf and the Dragon".

And now that we've written the build-up, we're again to turn to writing the climax and the resolution of that story.

Remember the climax is the high point of the action in the story where the problems introduced in the build-up come to a head.

So it's a very dramatic scene.

And the resolution is of course where the problems are resolved.

So in our text map, the climax is where they will face the dragon and all the action involved with that and the resolution is where the dragon is finally killed.

So I'd like you to look at your own text map now and find the events that make up the climax and the resolution.

Point to each of those events and say, "This is where this happens." Explaining what's happening at that point in the story.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done, great job.

That's good to really help you when we come to do some storytelling in a moment.

So here's the climax and resolution in my text map.

You can see I've started off with Beowulf trying to stab the dragon, but I've done that cross to show it doesn't work and I finished with the dragon being laying still and then being dead at the end there.

So here's what I would've said for my first two events here.

This is where Beowulf tries to kill the dragon but his sword is useless.

And then this is where the dragon breathes fire at Beowulf and Beowulf hides behind his metal shield.

And hopefully you can see that reflected in my text map there.

Really well done for that first try there and telling the events of the story.

So before we think about what we're going to write in our climax and resolution, we should practise storytelling this section to really lock these events in our heads and have a go at describing some of the things we are seeing along the way during this part of the story.

So we could take the events here, we've got two events with full stops after them and I could say something like this.

This time I'm not saying this is where something happens, I'm trying to it like a story.

So I might say this.

When they saw the dragons fire, the Geat warriors were terrified and they ran away.

Wiglaf was furious at them for being cowardly and he ran towards Beowulf.

So now it sounds much more like a story.

It's still not as complex as we would do if we were writing because we're saying it out loud just based on our text map.

But this is a great first step towards doing some really detailed writing.

So remember this, storytelling means saying the events out loud and trying to make it sound like a story.

So you can see I've added a few descriptive details to my example I just read to you, but it's not yet fully developed and that's fine.

We are doing a first attempt at making this sound like a story.

So which sections of my text map have been told using storytelling in this box? Let me read it to you.

Wiglaf's shield was soon on fire and he jumped behind Beowulf's shield.

Beowulf stabbed his huge sword deep into the dragon's skull, but it immediately got stuck.

The blade snapped in two and the dragon grabbed Beowulf with its sharp teeth.

Soon Beowulf was soaked in his own blood and he was screaming in agony.

So you can see I've got a few descriptive details in there, like the fact that the teeth were sharp and that he was screaming in agony, but I've still kept it fairly simple, but now it sounds like a story.

So which sections of my text map did I cover in my piece of storytelling there? Pause the video and see if you can spot them in the text map.

Well done, good job.

Hopefully you spotted, it is this section.

Where Wiglaf shields on fire, he has to hide by Beowulf's and then Beowulf stabs the dragon in the head, but his sword snaps.

So the dragon grabs Beowulf in its teeth and Beowulf is of course soaked in blood.

So I've covered those events and I've used storytelling to make them sound like a story as they say them out loud.

So now I'd like you to try that.

Using your text map, I'd like you to practise storytelling the events of the climax and resolution of "Beowulf and the Dragon".

So starting with Beowulf trying to stab the dragon and failing.

So you get to point to each sentence from the text map as you say the part of the story it represents.

And try to make it sound like a story by adding some description where you can.

And repeat it as many times as you can and you'll get better every time.

So pause the video and have a go at storytelling the climax and resolution from your text map.

Well done, great job.

So here's how I use storytelling for the final part of the climax and resolution in my tax map covering these events here.

So I said suddenly Wiglof drove his sword deep into the dragon's belly.

Immediately it dropped Beowulf from its jaws.

Beowulf grabbed the dagger from his waist and he slit the dragon's throat.

Soon the dragon's stopped moving, it was dead.

So again, I've tried to make that sound much more like a story worth saying it out loud.

And by doing this I'm really locking these events and ideas in my head so that the planning and the writing process becomes so much easier for me.

Really well done for doing the same.

And remember, the more you practise that, the easier your writing will become in the future.

So we've rehearsed our text map.

Now we're going to turn to looking at some rich vocabulary we could use to describe a battle.

Now because of all that storytelling practise, we now know the part of the story we're going to write really well.

So we can now think about writing it.

And one important part of writing is of course choosing appropriate rich vocabulary in order to have a particular effect on our reader.

We already know rich vocabulary to describe the setting, eagleness, and our main characters, the dragon and Beowulf.

So for eagleness we have phrases like rocky promontory, windswept headland, sheer cliffs, wind-whipped and bleak and battered by waves.

And here we've got some description for the dragon and Beowulf.

We've got for the dragon, gaping maw, sinuous neck, mighty arms, vast frame, fearsome serpent, monstrous beast.

And for Beowulf, fearless hero, ageing warrior and noble protector of Geatland.

So we can continue to use all of those in our climax and resolution because they apply to that as well as to the build-up that we used them before.

But we know our climax and resolution are different to the build-up because they include this battle between Wiglaf and Beowulf and the dragon.

So we can also add in lots of rich vocabulary that's specific to a battle or a fight so that we can make it seem really dramatic.

So let's think about, first of all, Beowulf's weapons and armour, 'cause we'll need to mention those, won't we? So we know that Beowulf wore a male shirt to protect against being stabbed or slashed in the torso.

He had a metal shield that protected him from the dragon's fire.

Remember wood gloves was wooden.

He wore a helmet to protect his head again metal.

And he had a sword that shattered in the dragon's head.

And finally he had that dagger that he used to slit the dragon's throat.

So he's got a male shirt, a shield, a helmet, a sword, and a dagger.

And we might mention all of those or just a few of them as we write.

So let's learn some rich vocabulary now to describe those items. Well if something is impenetrable, it can't be broken through.

I wonder which of his pieces of clothing might be impenetrable.

And something ornate is very decorative, so it might be nicely carved.

If something is burnished or gleaming, it's polished to a high shine.

And if something is trusty, it can be relied upon.

And finally a weapon might be sharp tipped or razor sharp.

Both of those are compound adjectives made using two words joint by hyphen.

So let's use that vocabulary now to make descriptions of the items we mentioned before.

We could describe his impenetrable shield or his ornate sword, or his burnished helmet, or his gleaming male shirt, his trusty dagger.

He can really rely on that dagger even though his sword has shattered.

And finally his sharp-tipped dagger would be another way we could describe it.

So we've taken that rich vocabulary, we've described the items Beowulf is wearing to create the impression that he's well prepared, but also to just give our reader a clearer picture of the items he's wearing and the protection that he has and the strength of the weapons he's using.

So can you choose an appropriate piece of rich vocabulary from the list on the right hand side to complete each description of Beowulf's armour and weapons? Pause the video and have a go.

Well done, great job.

So for a, I could say, Beowulf's ornate sword was useless.

It broke didn't it? For b, we could say the dim sun reflected off Beowulf's burnished helmet.

Burnish means polished.

That makes sense that the sun's reflecting off it.

For c, we could say wiglaf rushed to hide behind Beowulf's impenetrable shield.

And for d, Beowulf grabbed his sharp-tipped dagger and he plunged it into dragon's neck.

So sharp-tip there helps to explain maybe why the dagger worked when the swords didn't.

We're giving our reader a little clue as to why that dagger was so useful.

So all of these vocabulary choices helped to build a clear impression for our reader of what Beowulf is using in this battle.

Now we can also use virtual vocabulary to describe the actions Beowulf and Wiglaf might take during the fight.

Because there's some quite specific things we do when we're involved in a fight or a battle like this.

So they might stab or slash at the dragon with their swords.

They might strike the dragon scales with their weapons.

They might bellow or roar if they strike the dragon and they might dodge the dragon's fire to get out of the way.

So how might they do those things? Well we can use adverbs to say how they did them to really make it sounded like a tense situation.

So we could say he slashed wildly.

He stabbed brutally to show he did it really strongly.

We could say he struck desperately because he's getting panicked that his sword isn't working maybe.

We could say he bellowed angrily to show his mood, his emotion, and we could say he deftly dodged, so he skillfully moved out of the way.

So notice how we've taken those verbs and adding the adverbs to them makes the situation seem more panicked and more tense, which is appropriate because our climax is gonna be a really dramatic series of events.

Now we might also want to use some similes and metaphors as rich vocabulary to describe different moments from the battle.

And remember a simile is where we compare something to another thing, and a metaphor is where we say it is the other thing in order to show something about it.

So I can use similes and metaphors to describe the dragon scales.

I could say the dragon scales were as tough as any armour or as hard as diamond.

Those are both similes, aren't they? Or I could say that they were impenetrable shields.

That's a metaphor 'cause I'm saying that they are those shields.

For the dragon's fire I could say it was as hot as the midday sun or as bright and scolding as a comet, again both similes.

Or I could say it was a scolding hurricane, which is a metaphor 'cause I'm saying it is that thing.

So as I said, similes compare one thing to another, whereas metaphors say something is something else.

And you can see that in the examples I've shown you.

So now you try.

Can you think of any metaphors and similes for these moments in the battle? So you could say Beowulf sword crumpled or shattered like something.

Or you could say the dragon's teeth were this.

So maybe you can think of some metaphors and similes for that second one in particular.

So pause the video and see if you can complete those ideas using similes and metaphors.

Well done, good job.

For that first one, I could say Beowulf of sword crumpled like paper or it shattered like delicate glass.

So I'm talking about what happens when it's in the dragon's head.

And for the dragon's teeth I could say they were sharp-tipped daggers.

That's a metaphor, isn't it? Or I could say they were as strong as steel, a simile, or like jagged knives, another simile.

In each case we're trying to show something about this teeth.

We're saying how sharp they are, and that first one I was trying to show wasn't I how easily that sword breaks when faced with the dragon skull.

So these similar metaphors can be really useful for building a picture for a reader as well.

Now let's do our second task.

I want you to use the rich vocabulary we've learned to rewrite each of these sentences in a more descriptive way.

So at the moment they're quite simple, aren't they? Beowulf poked the dragon with his sword but it fell apart.

But it's not just that they're simple, it's that they don't create the right impression.

We are trying to create the impression that Beowulf is fighting fiercely with this fearsome dragon and he's having to really push himself to do that because he's faced with lots of really challenging problems. So how could you use the rich vocabulary we've learned and some of your own ideas to change these sentences to make it clear that we're trying to give this impression of a fierce battle? So pause the video and have a go at using your own ideas and the rich vocabulary we've discussed to try and change these sentences to give them more of the correct impression of a fierce intense battle.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done, great job.

For this first one which I already read to you, you might have changed it like this.

You could have said, Beowulf stabbed the dragon wildly with this ornate sword, but it crumpled like paper against the impenetrable scales.

So I've used loads of my vocabulary that I have now got stabbed wildly as my adverb, ornate to describe the sword, crumpled like paper as my simile and then impenetrable scales to describe the dragon's body in a really good way.

So that's much more dramatic, much more tense, isn't it? b says, Wiglaf jumped out of the way of the dragons fire which was very warm.

Well it's a bit more than warm, isn't it? So we could say, Wiglaf deftly dodged out of the way of the dragons fire, which was as bright and scolding as a comet.

So there I've got a simile to describe the heat.

For c it says, the dragon skills were hard but Beowulf put his dagger in his throat.

Well he didn't put it, did he? That's way too mild.

He went something much stronger there.

And the dragon scales were much more than just hard.

So we could say, the dragon scales were as tough as any armour, but Beowulf slashed the beast throat brutally with his trusty dagger.

So I've got that simile to describe the hardness of the scales, then I've got the word slashed and then brutally is my adverb there to show how hard Beowulf was having to work and then trusty to describe the dagger.

So we've really used that rich vocabulary well here to help set a much clearer mood to show the tension and the drama in this part of the story.

Really well done for how we did that.

So now let's explore some rich vocabulary for emotions.

So we'll also want to use some rich vocabulary to show the characters emotions during this battle scene.

And one way of doing this is to tell what characters are feeling.

So we could just write, suddenly, rage surge through Beowulf.

We've told our reader he is feeling rage.

We could say, Beowulf thought only of revenge as he slashed violently at the dragons impenetrable scales.

We're telling the reader that Beowulf is vengeful.

We could say Beowulf screamed in agony as the sharp teeth cut into him.

We're saying Beowulf's feeling pain.

We could say full of desperation, Wiglaf leapt to the aid of his king.

We're saying that Wiglaf is desperate.

So in each of these cases we are stating clearly the emotions that characters are feeling.

So what emotion will we be showing at each of these points in our climax and resolution? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done, great job.

So when the dragon bites Beowulf, we are going to have intense pain, aren't we? Being shown by Beowulf.

When Wiglaf stabs the dragon, we might see anger and determination from Wiglaf 'cause he's desperate to help his king.

And then for see, when Beowulf saw shatters, then we might see confusion or shock or concern on Beowulf because he can't understand what he's going to do next, but also how this has happened to his precious sword.

So it's going to be really important that we show these emotions clearly as we plan and write a climax and resolution.

Now, instead of telling emotions, we can also show-not-tell.

So that means we don't tell it, we show it without stating it.

So we could say, Beowulf staggered back, he gaped at the shattered remains of the sword and he looked up at the dragon's vast frame.

So his sword has just broken, he's done all these things.

He's staggered, he's gaped and he's looked up at the huge dragon above him.

So we haven't said Beowulf was worried, Beowulf was full of concern, but we have shown that Beowulf is shocked that his sword is broken through his actions, through his staggering, his gaping and his gazing up at the youth dragon.

We've used show-not-tell, we haven't told his emotion, we've shown it through his actions and body language.

Here's another example.

We could say, Beowulf let out a high-pitched yell.

He gasped and flailed his arms. He groaned and gritted his teeth.

So we haven't said Beowulf is in pain, we've shown that Beowulf is in pain when he's bitten through the fact that he yelled, he gasped, he flailed, he groaned and he gritted his teeth.

So when we use show-not-tell, we don't say the person's emotion, we show it through their actions and their body language in the way you can see here.

So our motion is being shown in each of these examples and why is the person experiencing that emotion? Each of these is an example of show-not-tell, but what emotion is it showing and why is the person experiencing that? Pause the video and decide.

Well done, great job.

So a says, Wiglaf roared and leapt forwards brandishing his sword.

So this is showing Wiglaf's anger, isn't it? At the fact that the dragon has attacked Beowulf.

b says Beowulf's mouth fell open and his eyes bulged in their sockets.

So we've got a mouth falling open and eyes bulging.

This is showing shock at his sword breaking perhaps.

And then for c it says, Beowulf cried out and screwed his eyes tight shut breathing rapidly.

So he's crying out, he's screwing his eyes shut and he's breathing a lot.

So this is showing his pain at being in the dragon's teeth perhaps as his blood pours over him.

So in each of these cases we've used show-not-tell to show the person's emotions through their actions.

Now it's perfectly fine to tell emotions, there's nothing wrong with that, but we might might want to use a mixture of tell and show-not-tell in our writing in order to make sure that we're giving a clear impression of these characters emotions.

Both are good ways of doing it.

So let's do our final task of this lesson.

We're going to practise using show-not-tell here.

So I'd like you to rewrite each sentence, adding show-not-tell ideas to show the emotion that's being felt.

So in each of these examples, the emotion is currently being told, which is fine, but we're going to practise rewriting these using show-not-tell instead just to make sure we've mastered that skill.

So pause the video and have a go rewriting each sentence, removing the tell and adding in show-not-tell to show the character's emotions at this point.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done, fantastic job.

So for the first one it says, full of rage, Beowulf thrust his sword into the dragon's head.

So we've got anger here, haven't we? It says rage.

So that's tell, let's make it shown-not-tell.

You could say, bellowing loudly with narrowed eyes, Beowulf thrust his sword with all his might into the dragon skull.

So he's bellowing, he's narrowed his eyes and he's using his full force.

So we've shown that he's angry.

b says, Beowulf writhed in agony in the dragon's gaping maw.

We've said agony, so we're showing pain here.

We have used tell, what about show-not-tell? We could do, as the dragon's teeth sunk into him, Beowulf writhed and screamed, wincing in pain and squeezing his eyes shut.

So we've got writhing and screaming and wincing and squeezing his eyes shut, all showing the pain without us saying that he's got pain in his body.

c says, Beowulf was stunned when his sword snapped in two.

So we're saying he's stunned.

Well, how could we show-not-tell that instead of just telling it.

We could say this.

Beowulf watched open-mouthed as the metal pieces fell to the floor and he gulped as the dragon loomed over him.

So he's watching open-mouthed and he's gulping.

We have shown that he's shocked or stunned without saying it.

Really well done for your thoughts there.

And remember, it's not wrong to tell emotions, it's perfectly fine.

We might want though to use a mixture of tell and show-not-tell in our writing in order to keep the action moving perhaps that might be when we use tell, and when we really want to focus in on emotions, we might use show-not-tell at those points.

But it's up to us as a writer to have all these techniques and use them when we think is appropriate.

So really well done for practising that so well.

Let's summarise our learning in this lesson.

We know that we're working towards writing a narrative version of the climax and resolution of "Beowulf and the Dragon".

Before we write, it's useful to use our text map to orally rehearse storytelling the event we're going to cover.

This means our brain is free to focus on doing excellent writing.

To do this effectively, we want to use rich vocabulary to describe the experience of battling the dragon, including the armour and weapons used and the actions done by characters in battle.

We'll also want to use rich vocabulary and show-not-tell language to describe the character's emotions as they fight.

You've done a fantastic job in this lesson of generating some brilliant vocabulary that we can use in our writing.

I'd love to see you in the next lesson where we'll be applying that vocabulary and our storytelling skills to planning this section of our story.

I'll see you there.

Goodbye!.